The Fall Frenzy

I think I’ve been a little guilty lately, in fact I know I have. With all that’s been going on with editing and salt water fishing bass fishing has been on the back burner a bit. At least it was until the temperatures started to dip a little bit. Fall bass fishing can be some of the best of the entire year if you understand a little bit about the bass and its world.

As we speak we’re in a period of transition. The cooling temperatures have the bass acting a little friskier than they were a few weeks ago, but the “fall frenzy” hasn’t quite started. Bass are starting to make their move into shallower feeding areas for longer periods of time, but the majority of them are still located in mid lake areas making them a little difficult for most anglers to catch. Try looking around main lake points at the mouths of large coves and rocky banks in these same areas for another week or two. Use lures like crank baits in shad and perch colors in stained water and crawfish colors in clearer waters.

After our next cold front hits, expect bass movement to increase greatly. Small baitfish will move into coves and creek arms with the bass close behind them! Shoreline areas with pads, wood, and other obstructions will be a prime hiding place for bass at this time. The best news is that they will be willing to chase fast moving lures on most days! What this means to the angler is that now is the time to cover water and lots of it in a day. While you can certainly catch some fish on soft plastics the odds are now in favor of the angler chuckin’ and windin’! The choice of lures to insure the most success can be critical now more than ever though.

The baitfish that bass feed on this time of the year can be really small so anglers need to match the hatch. Spinner baits should have small Colorado or Willow leaf blades in silver or gold colors. Crank baits of 3/8ths of an ounce or less can be quite effective. Remember to scale your tackle to match these lures so they have optimum action when possible. A 1/8^th ounce crank bait won’t cast or vibrate nearly as well on 17 LB test as it will on 8 or even 10 LB tackle.

Anglers should stay in areas where there is more bait or signs of fish activity and try different tactics. Some days the bass will eat a spinner bait reeled just under the surface while the next day they may want it crawled. Also realize that a crank bait doesn’t necessarily need to be constantly digging into the bottom to draw a strike. Many times you don’t want the bait to dig into the muck and mire getting fouled quickly on each cast. An old trick is to throw a ¼ ounce rattle trap on 20 or 25 LB test to keep it running shallower than it would on 10 LB test. An even easier trick is to hold your rod tip higher and your bait will naturally rise in the water column.

As a parting tip I’ll tell you exactly what will be tied on my rods next trip.

1.    Little Big –O in perch color

2.    Bomber model 6A in Fire Tiger

3.    White spinner bait (1/4 oz) with #4 willow leaf blades

4.    Chrome with a black back Pop-R

5.    Wacky rigged Green Pumpkin Senko

6.    Drop shot with a June bug finesse worm

7.    Baby Brush Hog (Green Pumpkin) Texas rigged

These rods will allow me to cover shallow to mid depths quickly while leaving me options if I miss a fish or want to pick an object apart a bit. If I had to guess I would say that the little Big-O would get a lot of attention and most of the fishing time if the bass are on shallow wood cover like I think they will be.

Remember, follow the fish as they move shallow and crank, crank, crank!